Global Serve International is a tangle of businesses, employees/managers, entities, and arms that are difficult to follow, to know where one starts and the other ends, a mash-up of pseudo-Christian businesses with secular sites.
Below is a record of events between Believers Church and Global Serve International travel agency. Believers Church is not in the custom of leaving negative reviews. However, we hope our experience will serve to caution others who are considering purchasing tickets from Global Serve International, especially churches and Christian organizations.
JANUARY
Believers Church paid Rachel Karasek of Global Serve International $10,950.00 on January 16th, 2020, and an additional $2,640.00 on February 13th, 2020 for a total of $13,590 to purchase 12 refundable tickets to the Philippines. At the time of purchase, Global Serve International confirmed the tickets were refundable as per our request, sending us invoices and confirmation numbers.
MARCH
On March 18th, due to the Coronavirus restrictions on travel to the Philippines, Believers Church contacted Rachel Karasek of Global Serve International to cancel all 12 tickets to the Philippines. Rachel Karasek (identifying as an agent of Riverside Travel in White Bear Lake, MN, a front for Global Serve International) emailed that there would be a $150 fee per ticket. When Believers Church asked for details as to why there was a fee, as none was indicated on the original invoices received, she could not answer but asked if we would like to talk to her manager, Tim Lange, of Global Serve International located in Cascade, Colorado.
Later that afternoon, Ted Groat of Global Serve International, called Believers Church to say that Delta had been changing the rules constantly on these tickets. Ted Groat said that the tickets were originally refundable, but that Delta had changed the rules so they were no longer refundable, and that Global Serve International was working hard to get us our refunds. Ted said that there was no guarantee we would get a refund from Delta, but if we did the fee would be $300 per ticket. He then accused us of harassing Rachal Karasek on the phone, to which Believers Church denied, siting several other witnesses to the phone call confirming that nothing other than a gentle and professional tone was used to inquire about the fees.
On March 23rd, Tim Lange, the managing director of Global Serve International, emailed Believers Church offering to send us a check that day for $9,990.00, which is the original amount paid minus $300 per ticket ($3,600 total) in cancellation fees from Delta Airlines.
APRIL
On April 1st, having inquired and not received any further communication from Tim Lange or Global Serve International, Believers Church contacted Delta and spoke with Krishna Maler concerning the cancellations. She confirmed that Delta had not changed the rules as Global Serve International had indicated. She confirmed the original tickets bought by Global Serve International were non-refundable tickets at a much cheaper rate than what we paid Global Serve International. She stated that Delta had actually changed the rules to allow these originally non-refundable tickets to become refundable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is the only change that was made, which would be in our favor. She also confirmed that Delta refunded Global Serve the full amount paid, charging no canceling fees, on March 20th, 2020, and March 23rd, 2020 to an American Express card ending in x3005 registered to Tim Lange of Global Serve International in Cascade Colorado.
Believer’s church tried to contact Tim Lange to figure out what was going on, but he would not respond to our phone calls.
Believers Church then contacted Delta again on April 15th. Several additional customer representatives from Delta, including their billing department, confirmed the information originally given to us by Krishna Maler, that the tickets were originally bought as non-refundable, that the tickets were only refundable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that Delta had charged no fees to cancel the tickets, that the cancellation was initiated and completed by the travel agent, and that the full amount paid for the tickets was refunded on March 20th, 2020 and March 23rd, 2020 to an American Express ending in x3005 registered to Tim Lange of Global Serve International in Cascade, Colorado. At this point, Delta recommended we open a complaint with their fraud department and contact our local police department. However, Believer’s Church decided to give Global Serve International more time, and the opportunity to explain themselves in their defense.
Believer’s church tried to contact Tim Lange to figure out what was going on, but he would not respond to our phone calls. Tim Lange emailed saying he would only talk to us through email and refused to discuss the matter over the phone. However, we caught him misquoting previous emails mistaking his own words for ours, which was why we wanted to talk to him on the phone. He admitted to doing so, but still insisted on only communicating through email. He also said he was still waiting for Delta to refund him the money, that Delta was holding up the process, and that there would indeed be fees levied by Delta due to the cancellations. These were all false statements.
After several weeks passed with no further information, Believer’s Church contacted the El Paso County Sheriff’s office in Cascade Colorado. The officer performed a welfare visit to Tim Lange’s property, finding it to be one of several properties he owns. Tim Lange’s son was there and said his father was out of state, though a resident at the lodge confirmed he had seen Tim Lange earlier in the week. The officer also passed on that Tim Lange had his hand in several other businesses. A quick search online revealed that he managed property and was tied to at least two travel agencies, one identifying as Christian and the other identifying as secular.
Believer’s church researched Global Serve International and discovered it was operating what is known as a “bucket shop”, being guilty of the aspects that travel professionals warn about, reselling bulk non-refundable tickets at a discounted rate, not being able to contact directly on the phone, etc.
MAY
After waiting nearly a month, and hearing nothing further from Tim Lange of Global Serve International, per the earlier advice from Delta Airlines and the local police departments, on May 21st Believers Church moved to open a small claims civil case against Global Serve International for the amount of $9,990.00, which would allow Global Serve International to retain a $300 per ticket fee ($3,600 total in cancellation fees).
Soon after, Tim Lange emailed that his standard fee would be $450 per ticket ($5,400 total in cancellation fees). However, he would consider being “gracious” to Believers Church in order to settle the matter outside of court, charging Believers Church only $300 per ticket ($3,600 total in cancellation fees) as long as we agreed to enter into a Covenant with him not to pursue legal action. Believers Church could not before God enter into a Covenant with Tim Lange nor Global Serve International (according to Joshua Chapter 9). However, Believers Church promised to end any legal action when Believers Church received a check for $9,990.00, allowing Global Serve International to retain a $300 per ticket fee ($3,600 total in cancellation fees).
JUNE
On June 3rd, over two months after Global Serve International had received full ticket refunds from Delta, Believers Church received a check from Global Serve International for a total of $9,990.00, allowing Tim Lange to retain $3,600 from the original purchase amount for fees. This payment satisfied Believers Church, and Believers Church closed the small claims civil case against Global Serve International.
Throughout the process, Believers Church simply stood by the fact that God is not the author of confusion, with a desire to bring the truth of the matter into the light. Yet Global Serve International repeatedly played the “God card” when backed into a corner, claiming they were behaving like good Christians and those at Believers Church were not. Yet Global Serve International was repeatedly caught lying, only to change the story (i.e. regarding fees of $150, then $300, then $450, regarding whether the original tickets purchased were refundable or not, regarding who was holding the money at different points in the process, and regarding when Believer’s church would receive a refund). This process required dozens of emails and phone calls to Global Serve International, Delta Airlines, and two local police departments. This process also required filing paperwork and fees with the small claims civil court, mailing the civil case paperwork to the El Paso County local police department, and paying the local police department to serve papers with notarization to Tim Lange of Global Serve International. Had Believers Church not pursued this process, opening a civil case against Global Serve International, Believers Church is not convinced they would have received any refund from Global Serve International.
We hope our experience will give adequate caution to anyone else considering purchasing tickets from Tim Lange or Global Serve International in the future.